Revolution evolution: mountain bikes go big

Cyrus McCrimmon/The Denver Post
Sally Hammond displays her new mountain bike with 29" wheels that are gaining popularity. Hammond was on the North Foothills Trail in Boulder riding the new bike that is easier to ride than her previous bike that had 26-inch wheels.

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She didn't want to plunge down the Boulder foothills trail. Too steep. Rocky. And for years, while her husband Pete soared to the bottom, she hopped off her bike and walked it down.

But a month ago Sally Hammond bought a new mountain bike, with 29-inch - rather than the standard 26-inch - wheels.

And so down she goes - in the saddle.

"I felt 10 times more confident than I did on anything else I had ridden," said Hammond, a Boulder executive. "It opens up so many opportunities for me, trails I didn't have the confidence to ride."

Just a few years ago, so-called 29ers were for tall people and bike geeks - and usually both.

But then manufacturers started tweaking the frames, making them friendlier for non-giants, like Hammond. Bike geekdom made them seem cool. And then the big boys - first Trek, then Specialized - started pushing 29ers.